


And Then She Changed

by LucyLegacies



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-19 06:19:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22106434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucyLegacies/pseuds/LucyLegacies
Summary: An inside of what happened in the their life that lead to that Fire and what happened after. It is really sad and funny.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman & Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54





	And Then She Changed

On the morning of Lizzie's 13th birthday she kissed someone for the first time. She woke up that day with Josie singing and mom and dad laughing in their dorm. Lizzie looked at her family and felt so happy that they were hers. They wouldn't have a party for their birthday, instead they would go to a fair that was happening in Mystic Falls. Before they go, though, Lizzie needed to go to the Old Mill to get her diary. She had forgotten it there and she couldn't possibly pass her birthday without it.

When she got there, she heard first a whispering and then she saw it. Alyssa Chang was doing a spell outside of class and that was strictly forbidden. Not that kids used to obey the rule, Lizzie and Josie had done it more times than they should or would admit it. But Lizzie felt _something_ at the thought that she was the one to catch Alyssa breaking the rules.

"Shouldn't you be only reading about spells and not actually practicing them in your free time?" Said Lizzie with a superior voice. Alyssa looked at her as if she had been caught cheating on finals.

"It's just you." Said Alyssa relaxing. Lizzie felt that _something_ again at Alyssa's trust that Lizzie would not put her in trouble.

"What are you doing?" Asked Lizzie since there was no point in pretending that she would tell someone.

"You'll gonna love it. Come see it."

As Lizzie was getting closer to where Alyssa was she saw something moving, but couldn't quite identify what. When she finally got a better look she saw a game board with little action figures moving and whispering.

"I just invented an interactive D&D. I mean-- a more interactive one." Said Alyssa with a smug face. Lizzie was amazed. She loved board games and D&D was one of her favorites.

"How did you do it?" Lizzie asked.

"It was quite difficult, actually. Since I was doing it on my own and I didn't know the right spell I had to try a lot of them until I got it right. I started working on D&D about 6 months ago." Lizzie felt that _something yet_ again. Stronger now. Like a lot of bubbles popping underneath her skin and in her belly.

Now, Lizzie wasn't stupid and she had watched a lot of movies and had read a lot of books and she knew that the _something_ she didn't want to name was a crush on Alyssa. It wasn't the first time Lizzie had a crush on a girl, the annoying first crush would return from time to time to test Lizzie's poor soul. But right now Lizzie really wanted to kiss Alyssa.

"You're amazing. I mean-- You did amazing." Said Lizzie a little embarrassed. Alyssa gave her a beautiful smile that made Lizzie melt inside. She got a bit closer and stepped on one of Alyssa's little action figures. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to break it." Alyssa waved her apologies and kept her smile and Lizzie couldn't have done what she did next differently even if her life was in danger. She got closer and kissed Alyssa. ON HER LIPS. It was just a peck, really, but Lizzie couldn't stop her mind from imagining her wedding dress or introducing Alyssa to her parents. _Yeah, her mind worked that fast. Thank_ _you very_ _much._

Alyssa smiled again after the kiss and so did Lizzie. They stared at each other for ages, or maybe just a few seconds, before they heard a noise outside that startled them.

"It must be just an animal." Said Alyssa and Lizzie would have agreed with her even if she had said that the sky was green. But the noise made Lizzie remember that her family was waiting for her.

"I have to go. My family is waiting." Said Lizzie and Alyssa nodded, still smiling.

"Happy birthday." Said Alyssa and Lizzie smiled and ran away happier than she thought she would be today and she had high expectations for today. She couldn't wait to tell Josie that her first kiss was with Alyssa Chang.

* * *

  
Hope had just seen Lizzie going to the forest so she followed her. Lizzie was wearing a cute Star Wars dress and that just made Hope's conviction that she had chosen the perfect gift for her grow stronger. She was hoping she could catch both the twins alone so she could give them their birthday gift.

She got to the Old Mill right after Lizzie but when she saw that Alyssa was also there she decided to wait for Lizzie outside. Hope found it funny that none of the students really obeyed the _'no magic outside class'_ rule. It was a lame rule, the students knew it, the parents knew it and even the headmasters knew it. It was just a pretense of control that the SBS wanted to show so everyone would pretend they didn't practice spells outside class and the school wouldn't look at the right places to catch students.

Hope couldn't hear what Lizzie and Alyssa were talking about but she didn't like Alyssa's smile. For some reason Hope felt the need to hex her with black teeth or some warts. That need only grew when Lizzie got closer to Alyssa and kissed her. Hope was so startled that she didn't notice the huge branch behind her and she fell on her butt. She got up and ran away before anyone could spot her.

Lizzie kissed Alyssa. _Elizabeth Saltzman kissed Alyssa Chang's mouth._ Hope wanted to puke her guts out. Really, the amount of time that Lizzie Saltzman spent making Hope Mikaelson want to puke was really a shame. Not that it was Lizzie's fault that Hope's magic would swirl in anticipation every time she got close to Lizzie. Or every time some oblivious teacher didn't notice their awkwardness and put them together in an assignment. Or really any time someone mentioned Lizzie to Hope. Hope tried to rationalize that it wasn't just Lizzie. Sometimes Josie would be the cause of Hope's weird thingy. Just last month Hope had spent a whole week daydreaming about Josie and writing her name down in different handwriting on her diary like a fool. There was something about the Saltzman twins that made Hope want to scream like a baby throwing a tantrum.

Hope went all the way back to her dorm thinking about Lizzie kissing Alyssa. She had to call it for what it was. Jealousy. Hope was jealous. She sighed loudly. Of all things that Hope should worry about, Lizzie Saltzman kissing a girl shouldn't be one of them. So Hope started listing reasons that she _should_ worry about.

#1. You are a 14 years old girl that can't see her father, her uncles and aunt because of an evil entity. _Dark, but effective. Good for a couple of tears._ Hope commented on her own thoughts.

  
#2. Your mom is getting annoyed by your teenager ass. _She needed to go deeper._

  
#3. You never kissed anyone. _No. Scratch that off. Not something to be so worried about._

  
#4. You are essentially a freak of nature. _That's a good one, thought Hope. One that always managed to get her worrying all night long. But not today, apparently. Because today her only worry was Lizzie Saltzman's lips._ Hope rolled her eyes. Why life had to be so complicated for her? Why couldn't it be easy like Lizzie's? Being confident to just nerd out whenever she wanted, having an amazing twin sister, kissing lips and smiling all the time. That would be a change of view that Hope would appreciate.

Hope was so worried talking to herself that she didn't notice Josie calling out for her.

* * *

Josie was waiting for Lizzie to pick up her diary when she decided to go after Hope. Next month would be Spring break and the twins were going to have a family trip and Hope was going home and Josie really needed to do something about her crush on Hope. It was getting out of control. Just yesterday, Josie was so distracted by Hope's hands on hers that she misread the spell on class and turned a perfectly safe plant growing spell into a fire spell that made their little rose turn into ashes.

She also needed to tell her mom and dad about liking girls. And boys. Josie didn't think they wound say something mean or not accept. She actually knew they would be okay with it. But she was still nervous about telling them. She was still testing her likes and her dislikes. She hadn't even talked about that with Lizzie. And she tells Lizzie everything.

She spotted Hope entering the school looking very distracted. Josie called her but she didn't listen. She was about to follow her, when Lizzie also entered the school with a blush and a smile. Josie felt something twisting inside of her at the thought of Hope and Lizzie together. Lizzie, always so funny and cute with her nerd talk used to make everyone laugh and love her instantly. Hope wouldn't be different. She had already caught Hope looking weirdly enough at Lizzie to make Josie wonder things. She got closer to her sister.

"Were you with Hope?" Asked Josie anxious. Lizzie didn't seem to notice, though.

"I--No, I wasn't. Why do you always ask about Hope? You know what? Nevermind. I was with Alyssa, actually. You're not gonna believe what just happened." Josie heart skipped a beat but believed Lizzie. Lizzie never lied to her. And she looked so excited to tell her news that Josie got a little guilty about being jealous of her sister.

"What happened?" Josie asked curious. Lizzie opened her mouth to talk when their parents found them.

"Let's go, girls?" Asked their mom. And Lizzie only looked at Josie with the _we'll talk later_ look.

The day was amazing and Josie knew that not every day was always perfect but today definitely was. So Josie made a decision. When they were at a restaurant after playing on all the toys in the fair and getting gifts and eating pop corn until their belly hurted, Josie blurted out.

"I like girls." Her dad looked at her as if she was an alien and for a split second she thought that this was going to end badly. But then she remembered that they were probably talking about something that Josie wasn't paying attention and they didn't understand what she said. "I mean, I also like boys. But girls too." Then she waited.

Her mom was the first one to speak. "Luck you. This just makes for a more ample menu." And Josie had to laugh at this.

"Caroline" Said her dad exasperated. "I'm proud that you feel comfortable telling us, sweetheart. I want you to be happy the way you are."

Josie felt such a raw happiness for having these amazing supporting parents. They both took her hands and Josie felt like exploding at any moment.

* * *

Lizzie also felt like exploding, although for a different reason. When her sister told them she liked girls and boys, Lizzie should feel happy for her but the only thing she could think about was something that she heard her mom say to her dad two years ago. _"I'm worried about Lizzie. Sometimes I feel like she wants what her sister has or wants. If Josie has the pink cup, Lizzie wants it. If Josie wants to change her hair, so does Lizzie. And I know this kind of thing is normal for their age and Lizzie really doesn't do it on purpose because she doesn't even realize it but I'm worried nonetheless."_ And after that, Lizzie started noticing and her mom was right. Lizzie used to want things her sister wanted. But it wasn't Lizzie's fault, she also realized after a while. It was like the twin empathy they shared. Like when Josie gets sick and Lizzie also gets sick or when Josie twisted her ankle and Lizzie spent the next week limping. Sometimes they would watch a movie and even though Lizzie liked it she also felt like she didn't and that was Josie. Sometimes she would want to eat pasta even if the hated pasta. _Josie loved pasta_. So Lizzie started shutting off the _Josie switch_. Every time she wanted something out of nowhere she would ignore it because it would probably be Josie. Lizzie also didn't tell Josie about it because it would make her sad and that would cause Lizzie to be sad too and that would be a whole new problem.

Lizzie hadn't thought about that for a long time, thinking that she had been able to neutralize her inner Josie but now she wasn't so sure. What if she liked girls because Josie liked girls? Worse: what if she liked Alyssa because _Josie_ _liked her._ Lizzie felt sick and Josie noticed because the first thing she asked when they got home was:

"What's wrong? Is it because of what I said?" And Josie looked so scared that Lizzie would be disappointed at her that Lizzie couldn't tell her what was wrong. So she just said a half truth.

"I'm happy for you, Josie. There's nothing you could do that would disappointed me. I love you, twin sister." Lizzie felt Josie's relief in her body. A sign that she forgot to shut Josie off. Lizzie wanted to scream but instead she smiled and hugged Josie.

"Talking about news... What were you gonna tell me about Alyssa?" Asked Josie and Lizzie cursed her bad luck. Of course Josie would remember. She was that good of a sister.

"I caught her doing magic at the Old Mill. She almost dropped dead when I scared her." Said Lizzie, lying to her sister again.

"Are you gonna tell dad?"

"No! And don't tell him either. It was just a harmless kinetic spell."

"Ok then. Goodnight, Lizzie." Said Josie and she kissed Lizzie's cheek.

"Goodnight, Jo." And Lizzie went to her bed and cried in silence.

* * *

_Good way of dealing with it._ Thought Josie watching Hope's dorm in flames. _What had she done?_ She just wanted to burn the note and instead burned Hope's whole room. It was her emotion's fault. The teachers always warned about doing spells while distressed. It wasn't a good combination. Josie jumped when her sister talked behind her.

"I heard Hope's room was on fire. What happened?" Lizzie looked so innocent and sweet worried about Hope. Josie felt guilty again. If her sister knew that their trip just got cancelled because of Josie...

"I don't really know. We should ask dad. He's dealing with it." As she said it, they saw the flames extinguish all at once. Her dad must've called some teacher to make a spell to stop the fire. Josie wanted to run away and hide forever. She was so disturbed by her own feelings that she didn't notice Lizzie breathing weirdly.

She watched as her sister went to her dad and talked with him for a few minutes. Josie could tell the moment Lizzie got the news about the trip. Josie knew she was holding her tears when she ran away but Josie couldn't follow her to deal with a tantrum. Right now she was worried that someone had seen her doing the spell or that the note miraculously didn't got burned and Hope already knew about her crush. So Josie also ran away and started crying.

* * *

Lizzie didn't know what to do about Alyssa so she ignored her after their kiss. Alyssa tried to talk to her but Lizzie only said that she didn't wanna talk about it and Alyssa respected her. Lizzie just wanted Spring Break to come sooner so she would get out of the school with her family and she would have peace. She just needed peace. But each day that passed made Lizzie more anxious. Lizzie didn't know why. She just knew that she felt like a balloon filling and filling, always about to pop.

And the balloon popped in the day Hope's dorm got burned. Lizzie was in her room finishing her travel bag when she heard people running outside her dorm. When she went to check it, she heard them talking about a dorm on fire. Lizzie got worried. What if someone got hurt? She went running and almost lost her balance when she got closer to the burning dorm and noticed it was Hope's. After her sister told her that she didn't know anything, Lizzie went to talk to her dad.

"Is Hope ok?" Lizzie had to take that worry over her shoulders.

"Yes. She wasn't on her dorm when it happened. But she lost almost everything."

"I'm so sorry." Lizzie felt the need to say it. She felt some... guilt. It wasn't her fault, obviously, but she was feeling sad about it. "I think we should postpone our trip to tomorrow so we can help her today." Even though Lizzie wanted to get out of the school as soon as possible, she needed to get out, she was also worried about Hope.

"Sweetheart, we'll have to cancel it. Hope lost almost everything, her family will want to know what happened and when the students start to tell their parents, they'll also want to know what happened. We can't leave right now." Her dad said and Lizzie felt her balloon dangerously stretching. She didn't answer her dad. She just ran away to her room. She needed to be alone right now.

She was so disturbed that she didn't noticed that she was siphoning everything and everyone she touched on her way. She couldn't even hear them complaining. It was like being underwater. She couldn't breathe and everything around her: people talking, things breaking and lights blinking felt distorted. She even felt the wetness of the water around her suffocating, trying to get inside of her. Trying to kill her.

Until it finally did. And Lizzie's balloon exploded.

* * *

Caroline was tired. She had just talked to Hayley about Hope's dorm. She wasn't happy about it but her number one concern was Hope and she didn't got hurt. She was coming to get Hope the next day. Caroline also had to calm parents calling to know if everything was okay. She spent the whole day in the office.

When she finally got out she went to check on the girls. Josie had fallen asleep in front of the fireplace. Caroline tried to pick her up without waking her but Josie woke up anyway.

"Are you okay?" Caroline hadn't been able to talk to her daughters all day and she needed to make sure they were okay.

"Yes, mom. I'm just really tired." So Caroline took Josie by the hand and was about to take her to her room when Alaric entered the common room. He looked really tired too. A mirror of her own and Josie's face.

"Let's just tuck the girls in and get to sleep." He said and Caroline couldn't agree more. So the three of them walked up to the their room. When she opened the door, Caroline felt her world upside down. Lizzie was covered in blood in the middle of the room, broken glass and broken furniture around her. Caroline was so scared that she didn't thought about closing the door before Josie could see it. And that's what took her out of her stupor: Josie's scream. All of them went running towards Lizzie's little body. Caroline could hear her heartbeat, meaning she was alive. Caroline felt pain as soon as she touched Lizzie and just now she noticed Lizzie's body glowing a faint shade of red where she touched the ground. She was siphoning. Alaric picked her up and took her to the infirmary. The nurse, a witch experienced with magical treatment, said it was like an overdose. The school, filled with magic and supernatural beings only reinforcing Lizzie's already innate thirst for magic. She made a potion to stop the siphoning and said it would be better if she got out of school. So Caroline called Bonnie, the only witch she trusted with all her heart and asked her what to do. She took Lizzie with her to get help with a warning bell ringing in the back of her mind: _it was only a matter of time before one of them started to let blood speak louder. It is also only a matter of time before one of them dies._ Caroline ignored the voice and focused on her daughter.

* * *

Hope couldn't believe it. Her clothes, books, paintings... All burned. Everything turned into ashes on the ground. Hope was so angry because these kind of thing only happened to her.

Her mom would be here later today, the headmaster had said yesterday. Hope wanted to ask her if aunt Freya was coming too. Maybe she could perform some restoration spell to save some of her things. But she couldn't find Caroline Forbes-Salvatore anywhere. Hope could ask Lizzie or Josie to talk to their mom. They would do anything Hope asked them to. So Hope ignored the pain in her heart and went to look for the girls.

She found Josie in their dorm cleaning it. It was a mess. Broken things everywhere, Lizzie's bookshelf on the ground, her books and games destroyed. Hope opened her mouth to talk but nothing came out of it.

"Lizzie was angry about the trip getting cancelled." Josie said not really looking into Hope's eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" Hope only forced out, not really knowing what else to say.

"Actually, no. I have too much to deal with right now." She said looking around as if to show Hope how much she had to deal with.

Hope only nodded and left Josie there. She didn't know what she was feeling. Did Lizzie destroyed their room just because she got upset that their trip got cancelled? Hope's room was burned to the ground, everything lost and Lizzie throws a tantrum? And why is it Josie's responsibility to clean it up? She was so ashamed of what Lizzie had done that she couldn't even look Hope in the eyes.

Hope decided to go talk to the headmaster herself. She just wanted her mom to be here already. She found Doctor Saltzman in the office and before she could knock to get his attention, she heard him talking on the phone. " _Don't come back with Lizzie 'till the end of Spring Break. After what happened in Hope's room and what Lizzie did after... She should be away_." Hope listened to that in denial. Lizzie really got her mom to get her out of the school just because she didn't want to be here? Hope also wanted to scream and break and shatter and destroy everything. But she did no such thing. Her life wasn't easy like Lizzie's. She couldn't just sulk to make her mom get her out of here. So she went to her destroyed room and cried. That was what she was supposed to do.

* * *

Hope's mom spent two days at the school helping her pack what could be saved. After that they went back to New Orleans. Hope would be back by the end of Spring Break. So would Lizzie if everything worked out fine, had said her mom in the last phone call. Josie couldn't believe that it was all her fault. She destroyed Hope's dorm and now a rumor that Lizzie flipped the crazy switch was being passed around. Josie barely got out of her room feeling already way too guilty to hear what they were saying about Hope or Lizzie. Way too guilty to look in her dad's face and see his pain. Way too guilty to live normally when Lizzie and Hope didn't got this option. So she basically spent her days in her room crying and cleaning. Her dad would try to get her out but he was too tired to try hard enough.

The last day of Spring Break came way too fast and Josie found herself faking excitement to greet Lizzie. Not that it was all fake, she was really happy to see her sister. She hadn't seen Hope yet and that was another problem. She just didn't know what would happen next.

"Lizzie!" She said and hugged her as soon as she got out of the car. "Mom." Josie was very happy to see them.

"Hey, sweetie." Her mom also hugged her and Josie though that maybe everything would be okay. Then she looked into her sister's eyes and lost all her child innocence. Lizzie looked so lost and scared and so so sad and Josie, for one second, could feel exactly as her sister was feeling. And it was so dark that Josie took a step back. That only hurted Lizzie more.

"Hey, Jo." Lizzie said with a small broken voice as if she had been crying too much. So Josie took a deep breath and smiled and held Lizzie's cold hand on hers.

"Let's get back to our room. Dad helped me make a surprise for you." Lizzie nodded and Josie took it as a sign that she was ready to come in. _Everything would be alright with time,_ thought Josie.

She was again proved wrong when the students started whispering as they acknowledged them. Her mom was probably trying to scare them away with her eyes but clearly she wasn't being too effective. Her dad had agreed to wait them in their room so they wouldn't catch too much attention but the did got all the attention anyway. Josie looked at Lizzie and saw her trying to tune out what was happening. When Josie started thinking that they wouldn't be able to get to their room, her dad appeared on their door and they got in. He hugged Lizzie and Josie could see, could feel the awkwardness. He didn't know what to do. Who did, actually? So he started talking and making things worse.

"So Josie had this amazing idea to redecorate your room and I think you'll really love it. We got new books and games for you, sweetheart." He said and Josie wanted to die right now because her dad was saying all the wrong things. Not that Josie knew what the right things to say were. After 30 minutes of Josie wanting to die of second hand embarrassment, their parents finally decided to leave them alone.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." Said Lizzie and Josie's heart broke a little more.

"But I want to." She really wanted to say something, she just didn't know what. So she asked her. "What do you wanna know?"

"Tell me the news."

Josie thought about it and opted for some light gossip. "Dad caught Andersen smoking inside his dorm and his mom came to the school just to embarrass him in front of everyone."

"Noooo. You're lying. Senior year Andersen?"

"Worse: 8th grade Andersen." And when Lizzie gasped and laughed Josie felt the air a little less heavy.

"Tell me more."

"Hazel B. and Hazel J. got into a fight for the love of Beatrice W."

"I thought Hazel B. was dating sophomore Mark."

"Well, turns out she was just dating him to spite her parents. They hated Mark's pack."

"Wow. And I missed all the juicy stuff." Said Lizzie. Josie noticed that Lizzie wanted to ask something but couldn't quite say it. Josie knew she wanted to ask about Hope and again she felt that jealousy built up inside of her.

"Hope's okay, if that's what you wanna know." Josie said maybe a little too harsh. Lizzie opened her mouth and then shut it. She tilted her head.

"Why do you always assume that I want to know about her? Why are you so obsessed with her? Do you--" Josie knew what was coming next so before Lizzie could even finish asking she blurted out.

"How could I be obsessed with someone who would say such mean things about my twin?"

"What do you mean?" Lizzie asked. Josie didn't have a option then. What could she say that wouldn't hurt her sister? Everything was already so messed up. Hope had just got back to school yesterday and she wasn't really talking to anyone. The whole school was whispering about _Crazy Lizzie_ and Josie was in the middle of it all. She didn't have a choice. She was desperate.

"The whispering you heard when you came in...they're saying that you're..." Josie couldn't say it but Lizzie could and she did.

"That I'm crazy? Is it-- Is it Hope's fault?" Josie could see that Lizzie didn't believe it yet. She needed Josie's confirmation. Only then she would believe it. She would believe anything Josie said. So Josie lied and broke sincerity out of their bond.

"Yes." One word was all it took to get rid of the child inside of Lizzie. Josie watched as her sister changed right in front of her. She noticed disbelief, denial and sadness cross her face. When acceptance settled in Josie really understood what she had done. But it was too late.

* * *

"That I'm crazy? Is it-- Is it Hope's fault?" Lizzie had heard, of course. As they were entering the school she could not just hear the word crazy being whispered around. She also could read it the their faces and _feel it_ in their magics. She also could feel her mother not being successful in scaring them away and her sister trying not to look embarrassed. But everything was going to be okay. She had to believe it. But then Josie said the word that changed everything.

"Yes."

Lizzie felt like the tree in the book she and Hope had chosen so many years ago in an assignment. She had given everything to Hope. Every effort in being Hope's friend passed through Lizzie's mind. Every letter and every funny time spent together that would no doubt lead to Hope dismissing Lizzie at the end. Lizzie felt herself breaking. How could Hope do something so mean? How could she tell people about Lizzie's health as if she didn't mean anything to her. Then something clicked inside her. _She never meant anything to Hope._ How could she be so wrong all this time? She always thought that they shared something special that even Josie, her twin, wouldn't comprehend.

She finally understood the book right then. When she was little she couldn't possibly imagine how the tree would continue to give and never get anything in return, not even real affection from the boy. But now she understood: the tree was just stupid.

Lizzie didn't say anything after that world changing _yes._ She just wanted the day to be over soon so she could sleep and wake up and realize it was just a bad dream.

But as if to spite her, the sleep never came. Instead, she twisted and turned in her bed until she made a decision. She got up and made her way out of her dorm. She walked and walked until she stopped by Hope's door. She didn't even knock. She used a unlock spell and rushed in. Hope wasn't sleeping either and when she saw Lizzie and opened her mouth to say something, Lizzie beat her to it.

"There is something that you never got from 'The Giving Tree', Hope."

* * *

Hope didn't believe Lizzie had just got into her dorm without even knocking. Hope wasn't really in the mood.

"What?" Said Hope not understanding.

"The book I gave you when we were little. The Giving Tree. I know you loved that book. I would see you reading it from time to time. I never really understood, you know?" Lizzie laughed bitterly. "How could the tree just give and give? And how could the boy never be satisfied with his part of the deal? He got everything. But he was never happy. Then I realized that he was never happy because he didn't appreciate what he had. He never took the time to see that the tree's gifts for him were a sign of it's love so he would look everywhere but at the tree. Eventually, the boy lost everything and went back to the tree and once more the _stupid_ tree gave something to the boy. I don't want to be the tree anymore, Hope. I won't be the tree anymore."

Hope didn't know what all of this was about and she didn't want to have this conversation. She didn't want to have any conversation. She was angry at Lizzie and she wanted to hurt her just like she hurted Hope.

"Don't you know? You were never the tree, Lizzie. You're way to selfish for that." And she got the result she wanted because she almost could hear Lizzie's pieces falling and hitting the ground.

"Yes, you're right. And I'm happy for it."

After saying that, Lizzie walked out of her room. Hope never understood what happened. One day Lizzie wanted to be her friend, then the fire happened and now Lizzie hated her. She couldn't possibly know what changed. So Hope closed herself even more. She didn't need more people to hurt her. Her family did the job well enough sometimes.

* * *

When Lizzie got back to her room, she was still restless. She knew she wasn't going to sleep that night so she made a 'no noise' speell not to wake Josie up.

Then she proceeded to change herself.

* * *

Before Josie open her eyes the next morning she felt that something had changed. She didn't want to open her eyes. Instead she wanted to be in this limbo-like existence where she never would know the lasting effects that her lie had on Lizzie. But the decision was made for her by her sister. The first of the lot yet to come.

"I know you're awake, Josie. Get up."

So she opened her eyes and looked around before setting her sight on Lizzie. The room was different. During the night Lizzie had changed her part of the room. She got rid of all the new decoration and stuff that Josie spent the Spring Break organizing. All the books and games were nowhere to be seen. The Lord of Rings original poster that Josie had made her dad pay a lot of money to get was in a box labeled 'Trash'. So was Lizzie's favorite costume, Galadriel's dress, that she wore in their 10th birthday party. But the worst part was Lizzie. She looked different, not just because of the slight make up, that she never wore, or because her clothes were styled different today. She was different inside. In her essence. In her core. All because of Josie and for that Josie would never forgive herself. So she made a promise.

_I'll do everything to make sure Lizzie's happy._

And then Josie also changed.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Please say what you think. About the Lizzie/Alyssa thing... I just think they would be really cute.  
> Please leave comments and if you want to learn more about the girls, read my other fanfic " I knew we were meant to be together".


End file.
